bennyblanco
21-05-2006, 10:45 AM
i recently got a variation for a .223 for foxing that been 10 weeks in the coming:rolleyes: so i had quite a while to stalk gunshops and shooters to find out what i was going to spend my hard earned on.
top of the list was a tikka t3 in stainless laminate, i liked the trigger and the feel of the gun and it does seem pretty good for the money but i heard a few stories on here regarding build quality which started to put me off.
next was the howa which seems an excellent bargain at <£500 in stainless, Rob on here bought one and it shoots excellently and has a fully adjustable trigger (although he still hasn't done it:rolleyes: )
this was looking like the way go until we went to minsterley6 and someone suggested looking at the steyr, when they showed me the set trigger i was sold. it is ridiculously light but wont go off until touched.
my local rfd ordered me one from sportsmans and then i had to sit on my **** until last week while they cocked around with my cert:mad:
http://marksgallery.photoblog.me.uk/p29440722.html
i got the steyr pro-hunter mountain, the mountain bit means it only has a 20" barrel which comes in a 1in9 twist rate. it has a detachable 4 shot mag and is factory screw cut with a recessed crown. it cost £650 and they chucked in some cleaning stuff with it.
the synthetic stock is ambidextrous and has a good comb height for medium mounts, the forend is a touch too flimsy for use with a bipod and this is supposed to be the reinforced MK2. i used resin to make a more solid platform which added 150g to the weight, it was annoying to do this to a brand new gun but worth it.
the gun weighed 7.3lbs out of the box and is very compact and pointable, the standard trigger is about 2.5-3lbs pull and has maybe 0.5mm of creep. when cocked if you put your finger behind the trigger you can push it forward to set it, it then breaks with almost no pressure although now i am used to it i can rest my finger on it safely. it really is excellent.
the bolt is smooth out of the box and picks up rounds with no fuss, it feels just the same if you dry cycle it. if you the 3rd stage of the safety the bolt folds in so its almost flush with the stock which is very good if you use a sling.
before firing i researched this place and the web for shooting in theory's, here is a good thread which helped me decide
http://www.airgunbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84303&highlight=brush
in the end i lapped the barrel with j-b compound for 60 strokes after giving it a good cleaning, i then fired one/cleaned one for 5 shots and went to pairs for the next 10 between cleaning just to be on the safe side. it has only had limited brushing and i will mainly do light cleaning every 15-20 shots.
i fitted a bushnell 10x40 3200 which i think is a good solid scope although i will have to change this soon as the gun will mainly be used with an xvd system and i could really do with and adjustable objective.
i have used warne mounts which are odd being split down the middle but work well, will have to buy new rings when i change the scope as the bolt is bloody close to the ocular and the 10x40 is smaller than most scopes anyway.
i also ordered a T8 compact moderator as its one of the only mods that will fit the 20" barrel with out having something custom made, this makes the tube 24" long and makes it frontish heavy but not too bad, the balance point is at the front of the mag.
http://marksgallery.photoblog.me.uk/p29440723.html
it performs excellently although smokes a bit on the 1st shot if there is too much oil in the baffles, it completely kills the recoil and sounds about like an hmr with a sak mod imo.
shooting started badly with american eagle fmj's going all over the place and the scope not adjusting unless you moved the other turret a click and then back (brand new scope is all i can put down to)
i then got a thing tighter with some £18 Remington's that looked as if they had been home loaded and then sold to me in the rem box:mad: wont be going back there again.
i went back to the range and put another 30 through it yesterday and thing are getting good, i used hornady 55gr v-max which cost a reasonable £13 and it was doing under and inch straight away. the best was this four shot group off the bench at 100yds which is just under 1/2" centre to centre. i am well happy as its only done 70 shots and with cheapish factory rounds, + i am pretty incompetent off the bench and believe its probably tighter but being moved by me and the slight parallax error on the scope.
http://marksgallery.photoblog.me.uk/p29440724.html
i am very happy with the decision to get the steyr, the trigger is the best i have felt, being screw cut from new i think is worth £100+ and the detachable mag is a bonus. steyr guns also come with a free hard case which just fits the gun with the mod on;)
ben
top of the list was a tikka t3 in stainless laminate, i liked the trigger and the feel of the gun and it does seem pretty good for the money but i heard a few stories on here regarding build quality which started to put me off.
next was the howa which seems an excellent bargain at <£500 in stainless, Rob on here bought one and it shoots excellently and has a fully adjustable trigger (although he still hasn't done it:rolleyes: )
this was looking like the way go until we went to minsterley6 and someone suggested looking at the steyr, when they showed me the set trigger i was sold. it is ridiculously light but wont go off until touched.
my local rfd ordered me one from sportsmans and then i had to sit on my **** until last week while they cocked around with my cert:mad:
http://marksgallery.photoblog.me.uk/p29440722.html
i got the steyr pro-hunter mountain, the mountain bit means it only has a 20" barrel which comes in a 1in9 twist rate. it has a detachable 4 shot mag and is factory screw cut with a recessed crown. it cost £650 and they chucked in some cleaning stuff with it.
the synthetic stock is ambidextrous and has a good comb height for medium mounts, the forend is a touch too flimsy for use with a bipod and this is supposed to be the reinforced MK2. i used resin to make a more solid platform which added 150g to the weight, it was annoying to do this to a brand new gun but worth it.
the gun weighed 7.3lbs out of the box and is very compact and pointable, the standard trigger is about 2.5-3lbs pull and has maybe 0.5mm of creep. when cocked if you put your finger behind the trigger you can push it forward to set it, it then breaks with almost no pressure although now i am used to it i can rest my finger on it safely. it really is excellent.
the bolt is smooth out of the box and picks up rounds with no fuss, it feels just the same if you dry cycle it. if you the 3rd stage of the safety the bolt folds in so its almost flush with the stock which is very good if you use a sling.
before firing i researched this place and the web for shooting in theory's, here is a good thread which helped me decide
http://www.airgunbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84303&highlight=brush
in the end i lapped the barrel with j-b compound for 60 strokes after giving it a good cleaning, i then fired one/cleaned one for 5 shots and went to pairs for the next 10 between cleaning just to be on the safe side. it has only had limited brushing and i will mainly do light cleaning every 15-20 shots.
i fitted a bushnell 10x40 3200 which i think is a good solid scope although i will have to change this soon as the gun will mainly be used with an xvd system and i could really do with and adjustable objective.
i have used warne mounts which are odd being split down the middle but work well, will have to buy new rings when i change the scope as the bolt is bloody close to the ocular and the 10x40 is smaller than most scopes anyway.
i also ordered a T8 compact moderator as its one of the only mods that will fit the 20" barrel with out having something custom made, this makes the tube 24" long and makes it frontish heavy but not too bad, the balance point is at the front of the mag.
http://marksgallery.photoblog.me.uk/p29440723.html
it performs excellently although smokes a bit on the 1st shot if there is too much oil in the baffles, it completely kills the recoil and sounds about like an hmr with a sak mod imo.
shooting started badly with american eagle fmj's going all over the place and the scope not adjusting unless you moved the other turret a click and then back (brand new scope is all i can put down to)
i then got a thing tighter with some £18 Remington's that looked as if they had been home loaded and then sold to me in the rem box:mad: wont be going back there again.
i went back to the range and put another 30 through it yesterday and thing are getting good, i used hornady 55gr v-max which cost a reasonable £13 and it was doing under and inch straight away. the best was this four shot group off the bench at 100yds which is just under 1/2" centre to centre. i am well happy as its only done 70 shots and with cheapish factory rounds, + i am pretty incompetent off the bench and believe its probably tighter but being moved by me and the slight parallax error on the scope.
http://marksgallery.photoblog.me.uk/p29440724.html
i am very happy with the decision to get the steyr, the trigger is the best i have felt, being screw cut from new i think is worth £100+ and the detachable mag is a bonus. steyr guns also come with a free hard case which just fits the gun with the mod on;)
ben